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MP Options & Audio Settings

We’ve come to the end of the Intel pieces on this week’s major update. We’ve discussed the new offline Practice Dummies, Dolly Cam editing feature, and the addition of over 400 new Contracts.

We hope you’re enjoying the new features, and we want to finish off the week with a guide on how to get the most out of your Black Ops multiplayer Options, including some that you may not even know existed.

Load Multiplayer by Default

For the many gamers who spend the majority of their time online competing against others, this option allows you to launch the game directly into multiplayer as soon as you boot the disc. This is a great option for players who want to get into the action as fast as possible. With this week’s update, the option is now available on the PS3!

Audio Settings

With Black Ops, we introduced new audio controls that let you customize sound levels to match your home setup. We recently sat down with Treyarch’s Audio Director, Brian Tuey, to discuss these new settings for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, and he gave us an in-depth explanation of how they work. Heads up: this contains techno-speak!

Every user has a unique home audio setup, so it’s important to spend a little time configuring your settings for the best audio experience possible. Black Ops uses an in-game compressor which alters volume at different ranges to adjust the sound mix according to your chosen options. The game shipped with the most common default audio settings, but they’re not universal for every player. If you haven’t adjusted your settings, you may not be getting the most out of the game’s audio. Play around with various combinations of the options below to determine which configuration is best for you!

Listening Level

Listening Level can be toggled between “Quiet” and “Loud” settings, which determine the game’s dynamic range. Dynamic range is best described as the difference between loud and quiet sounds. The louder you crank the volume, the more dynamic range you want because you’re able to hear subtle sounds more clearly. When you have the volume turned down low, however, it is difficult to detect subtle differences between sound effects and you will probably want less dynamic range.

Loud

This setting only engages the compressor during extremely loud sequences to prevent clipping. Having as much dynamic range as possible provides the most open and natural sound, since you hear everything from loud to subtle sound effects very clearly. This setting is best for listening to the game at higher volumes.

Quiet

The Quiet setting adjusts the game’s dynamic range via the in-game compressor by giving a boost to quiet sounds while keeping loud sounds at the same volume. This makes it easier to hear subtle sound effects when playing at softer levels. This setting is best for listening to the game at lower volumes.

Speaker Setup

Speaker Setup can be toggled between “Theater”, “TV”, and “Surround Headphones” (note the different labels used on the PC below). Each setting affects the game’s EQ to create the optimal sound mix for your unique setup.

Theater (On PC: Large External Speakers)

This setting creates a flat EQ, resulting in all sounds coming out at their natural levels without boosting effects at any range. When using Theater + Quiet settings, however, there is a slight bass boost.

TV (On PC: Laptop / Small External Speakers)

This setting gives a slight mid-range boost for a more balanced listening experience. The dialogue volume is also increased, regardless of the Loud/Quiet setting, because the TV option does not use a center channel.

Surround Headphones (On PC: Headphones)

This acts as an in-between setting as far as the compressor is concerned, reducing the game’s dynamic range more than Theater, but less than TV. The EQ gives both a boost at the high end and the very low end. Many headphones are mid-bass heavy, so adding a little more power to the high end helps balance the audio.